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The
Escambia County School District and School Board have targeted
books dealing with race and LGBTQ issues for removal, depriving
students of access to a wide range of viewpoints, according to
the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of Florida.
A spokesperson for the school district said officials were
unable to comment on pending legislation.
Book bans have been on the rise across the United States, PEN
says, affecting 874 titles in the first half of the 2022-23
school year. The bans are most prevalent in Florida, Texas,
Missouri, Utah and South Carolina and overwhelmingly target
stories by and about minorities and LGBTQ people, PEN says.
The Escambia County lawsuit seeks the restoration of removed
books back to school libraries, and court costs.
"The School District has been automatically restricting access
to any book challenged on the ground that it contains 'sexual'
content, regardless of the nature of that content or anything
else about the book," the lawsuit alleges.
Banned works include Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five," a
picture book "Draw Me A Star" by famed children's author Eric
Carle, and "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, plus others
that recognize the existence of same-sex relationships, the
lawsuit says.
"Of the 197 books targeted for removal in the district, 154
books remain restricted as of this filing, approximately 70%,"
the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit singles out the activism of Northview High School
teacher Vickie Baggett, but does not name her as a defendant,
for her efforts to remove numerous titles.
Baggett did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for
comment.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Chris Reese)
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